Costa Rica, Dengue, and an Angel

An early Sunday morning, two and a half weeks ago, we left for Costa Rica. Austin and I drug our suitcases down the street to meet Austin and Jill at the bus stop. We climbed aboard the 6:30 AM bus for the 8-10 hour ride from Masaya, Nicaragua to San Jose, Costa Rica. It was such a strange feeling to climb onto a comfortable, big, air conditioned bus after riding Masaya’s public transportation for a couple months. We were all so exhausted, so it was nice to be able to curl up and take a nap for most of the ride.

Driving through San Jose seemed like complete culture shock. Everyone told me it would be completely different than the sites I have seen for the last eight weeks in Nicaragua, but I did not expect it to be so drastic. It was odd to see a city… There were tall buildings, American fast food restaurants, and lots of cars! It was almost like being back in the US again, and although it is such a beautiful country, it immediately made me miss the simplicity of Nicaragua.

During my time there, I lived in the home of a lady named Anna. Anna lives with her husband and her grown daughter, but for most of my stay, it was only the two of us. The Spanish that the people of Costa Rica speak is incredibly different than Nicaragua. I am used to thick accents and being unable to understand most of the people I am trying to have conversations with, but in my new host home, communication was not a problem! I was so thrilled to finally be able to understand and carry a normal conversation without the constant pause of confusion. The thick accent was not there, and I loved it.

            We spent the week working in the ministry sites that SI has there. I worked for three days at the tutoring site with two of the Costa Rica semester students. We worked with the children of the community by helping them with their homework, studying, and other various activities. We played games, read books, and did crafts with them throughout the week. On my fourth day there, I had the opportunity to join Rebecca, a new addition to the SI Costa Rica staff. Rebecca works in special education, and I was given the privilege of working right beside her for the day. Rebecca pulled the students out of class one by one to work on various skills such as learning colors, numbers, and letters. The day was so simple. We played games and drew pictures, all while practicing different skills and allowing the students to learn. It was such a fun experience for me and resembled much of what I hope to do in the future with Occupational Therapy.

            A couple of days after returning from Costa Rica, I began to feel incredibly weak. After working in the site one day, I came home and completely crashed. I slept for a few hours, and when I woke up, I felt unable to respond to people. I tried so hard to form the words I wanted to say, but I just could not get it out. I remember lying on my bed, staring blankly at one of the semester students as she spoke to me. I wanted so badly to tell her I was not listening and that I couldn’t get up, but the words wouldn’t come.

            I did not immediately think I was sick, but figured I was extremely exhausted from the long week, and possibly experiencing some dehydration. That night, after sleeping through dinner, I asked Jill if she could cut my slices of watermelon smaller for me because my arms just weren’t strong enough to do it myself. This was when I knew there was a problem. After finding my temperature over 103, I decided it would be best to go to bed for the night. In the morning, after going to get my blood drawn, it was confirmed that I did in fact have Dengue Fever.

            The next eight to ten days consisted of multiple blood tests, monitoring my fever, attempting to stay hydrated, and sleeping every moment in between. Because of prayers, I was extremely blessed not to have had some of the worst symptoms that often accompany dengue. I have heard from many people that dengue involves extreme fatigue. Never in my life did I think it would be so severe. I remember lying in bed believing that I had the strength to get up, but something as simple as walking across the room, left me feeling as if I had just run a marathon. I experienced extreme weakness and fatigue, high fever, body aches, and the incredibly itchy, full body, dengue rash. Because my immune system was battling, I contracted two other infections during this time. This caused some pain and nausea along with the antibiotics, but I am so grateful to have passed through “break bone fever” without much excruciating pain at all. God definitely protected me from what could have been a long and very painful few weeks.

            I am so thankful for my little angel that took care of me every single day. I was staying at the base for a few days and later moved into Nate and Maggie’s home. From the first moment I felt sick, Maggie was always there. She was constantly checking on me, monitoring both my fever and my liquid intake. She was always concerned with how I was feeling, meeting my every need, and asking the doctor questions that only a mother would think to ask. She was creative in making sure my diet was filled with the protein I would need to recover quickly, and was always restocking my medications as needed. In addition to taking me into her home, Maggie was always making sure my mom was up to date with my progress, even though she was all the way in California. I am so thankful for this woman, and do not know how I will ever repay her. Being sick away from home is never easy, but with Maggie, I felt completely at home the entire time.

            Ten days later, here I am, already moving back into my host home. Although I am still exhausted most of the time, I never expected to be up and going again so quickly. When I walked in this afternoon, Sophie and Oscar came running. They were so excited to see me after two and a half weeks of being away. My room was spotless, and a big sign was on my door welcoming me home. I am truly blessed.